Last night at Streetcar Charlie's in Ybor City, the Young Democrats of Hillsborough County held an event that featured former Congressman Jim Davis and State Senate candidate Nina Hayden.

Hayden, elected last year to the Pinellas County School District, is a young woman in a hurry (she’s 35). She’s now running for the State Senate seat currently held by Charlie Justice, who is leaving the seat to run for Congress next year.

She also continues to work in the Pinellas County Public Defenders Office.

Speaking to CL last night, we asked her about the thoughts of some political analysts that she's aiming her sights for Tallahassee perhaps a bit too soon?

"A lot of people have said that," she said last night when asked about her ambitions.

Hayden is currently unopposed in the Democratic race for the Senate seat in District 16. On the GOP side, Jack Latvala has announced his candidacy. Latvala previously served in the Senate from 1994 to 2002, and would become the first Floridian to return back to the Senate after previously having been term limited out.

In her feisty speech to the Young Democrats, Hayden said, "There was a lot of talk about who was going to step up to the plate (after Justice said he was running for Congress). No one was willing to step up…because they're scared to death because of the Republican opponent…I’ve heard 'there’s no way you’re going to beat him' …I’m going to get into the fight…even though I may be the new kid on the block, but I’m doing this because I’m passionate about our kids, about education, " she said to applause.

The Senate seat encompasses both Pinellas and Hillsborough counties. Hayden said it was only her 2nd campaign appearance on the east side of the Howard Franklin.

Also at last night's event was former Tampa Congressman Jim Davis, who two months ago told CL that he wasn't rejecting the idea of running for Mayor of Tampa in 2011. We didn't speak to him about that, but instead enjoyed the former Democratic gubernatorial candidate appear as relaxed as we've ever seen him in a public setting, as he addressed the youth group (the Hillsborough Young Dems says they represent folks under 40).

In his speech, Davis several times referred to politics as a 'crazy' business. He gave anecdotes to illustrate that sometimes in politics you must talk about what the voters want to talk about, not what the candidate does.

He also said politics was about respect, and respecting Republicans. He spoke in strong support of health care reform legislation now to be debated in the Senate, and stressed how critical it was not to get cynical about the political process.

Nina Hayden in her speech –

tThis is my 2^nd event in Hillsborough….I came down here about 10 years ago to go to law school at Stetson university….went to work at public defenders office immediately afterwars…she represents juveniles charged as adults…Really enjoy the fight for the underdog. We came from a family that raised us to be involved in the community. We volunteered at the Mitch Synder shelters. We spent Thanskgiving and Christmas. We learned the value of giving to the community. I wanted to get involved, fight for the underdog.

This article appears in Nov 11-17, 2009.